Right Mancha glanced at Qian Jin in the water. "Even after guiding him for so long, I still can't truly see through this disciple of mine. I had intended to utilize the characteristic that the Moon Demon Flower Spider never strays more than five hundred meters from the Demon Copper Refining Tree—once it crosses that boundary, whether it has caught prey or not, it immediately turns back to guard the tree.

I wanted Qian Jin to learn that while the Demon Subduing Three Battles is formidable, one cannot afford excessive arrogance. I wanted him to experience the terror of being relentlessly pursued by a death threat from behind, but the outcome was entirely unexpected." "With the Demon Subduing Three Battles, even with the Horse-Slaying Saber, I still couldn't cut it down." Qian Jin lay in the water, stroking his chin, deep in thought about the Moon Demon Flower Spider. The magic core of such a powerful magical beast is worth far more than that of a Centaur.

If I ever get the chance to forge a Magic Armament, that core would be an excellent choice. "Even with a strong bow..." Qian Jin shook his head slightly. "I probably still couldn't kill it.

I wonder if the Demon Subduing Four Battles or even Five Battles would stand a chance of finishing it off?" The old man paid no mind to Qian Jin carefully moving the Demon Copper Refining Tree. His gaze accidentally swept over the book Divine Archery resting among the clothes on the bank. His robust body shuddered violently; he almost dropped the tree in his surprise, his pupils instantly focusing until they were needle-sharp as he stared intently at Divine Archery for a few moments.

With a meaningful nod, he walked toward the mist. "I'll go plant this Demon Copper Refining Tree. That book, Divine Archery, looks promising; I'll spend some time looking through it." Qian Jin, meanwhile, was enjoying the massage the hot water provided his body.

He responded vaguely, thinking to himself that reading Divine Archery was the least of it; he absolutely needed to set aside time to craft about ten throwing knives and a powerful longbow. However, the iron ore material needed for forging weapons was nowhere to be found at the moment. For now, it could only remain an idea in his mind.

Leave the Four Seasons Valley? Qian Jin decided to wait a little longer. There was no Blazing Lake outside, and he hadn't figured out a safe way to collect all the Battle Stones yet.

In this world, there is never a shortage of people willing to risk their lives for wealth. If Xiao Chang Leiming could risk death to enter the Four Seasons Valley searching for the Battle Stone lode, then no one could guarantee that once the snow in the valley melted, a second Xiao Chang Leiming wouldn't appear. The best method was to take away all the Battle Stones!

But extracting every single Battle Stone from a lode, even a small one, was far from easy. "If only I could find a trustworthy Archmage..." Qian Jin climbed ashore, putting on his clothes while envying the legendary spatial storage artifacts. Those were outside the scope of a Magic Forgemaster; they were small spaces created by Archmages through secret magical arts and an unknown medium, allowing them to store a certain amount of items.

"Magic..." Qian Jin finished dressing and sighed. Most disciples of the Qian family possessed some degree of mental power, but he couldn't manifest any at all. This matter of magical storage spaces could only remain a daydream.

"Perhaps I should go check on the Battle Stone mine first." Qian Jin's figure vanished into the mist. "I’m at the peak of the Demon Subduing Three Battles now; I should be able to push open that giant boulder with sheer brute force combined with an explosion of battle energy, right?" "Archmage?" The old man carefully planted the Demon Copper Refining Tree in the mist, then turned back toward the direction Qian Jin had disappeared, a benevolent smile curving his lips like an elder. "Did you think I only had you seize this Demon Copper Refining Tree as a warning?" The old man gently toyed with the single crystal-like fruit on the tree, murmuring to himself, "By the time the snow melts and you prepare to leave, this thing should be ripe.

I'll give you another good item then, though whether you can swallow it is another matter. Even the Demon Subduing Nine Battles couldn't swallow this fruit and form a Battle Realm." Rumble, rumble, rumble... The massive stone scraped against the ground, sending up waves of roaring sound that made the earth tremble slightly from the friction.

Qian Jin flexed his slightly sore arms, looking down at the dark opening, a happy smile spreading across his face. The explosive force of his battle energy from the Demon Subduing Three Battles, combined with his brute strength, had indeed managed to push aside the massive stone covering the Battle Stone lode. Using the light cast into the pit by the sun, Qian Jin saw that the pit wasn't very deep—only about two or three meters—and inside was a relatively open space.

Qian Jin didn't immediately jump into the pit. Instead, he observed the surrounding environment and then pushed the movable boulder even further away. Jumping into a pit wasn't a trivial matter.

If something were to shift the stone back over the opening from above, Qian Jin wouldn't have the strength to push it up again. Faint hints of Battle Stones could be seen protruding from the dimly lit stone walls of the mine. Qian Jin stepped forward and gently ran his fingers over the rocks on the wall.

The Horse-Slaying Saber rose and fell, striking the stones on the pit wall. In the darkness, a series of sporadic sparks erupted, accompanied by the continuous buzzing sound of metal grinding against rock. Qian Jin bent down to pick up the stones on the ground, observing a few chipped pieces closely under the light, even sniffing them right up to his nose.

"This is...?" In the dim mine, a flicker of astonishment ignited in Qian Jin’s eyes, like sparks struck from colliding metal. "This is... iron ore?" This was a lode mixed with iron ore.

Qian Jin found it hard to believe what he had discovered, but after chopping small chunks off the wall, they truly matched the descriptions in Black's book, Mineral Prospecting. Furthermore, the surrounding environment perfectly fit the book’s depiction. It was just that he had been too focused on the Battle Stone lode before, completely neglecting the knowledge from Mineral Prospecting that he had once studied.

Qian Jin's hands kept running over the stone walls, and the joy in his eyes grew. He couldn't help but mutter to himself, "That's right! That's right!

This is definitely an iron mine!" The recent concerns about finding materials to forge a powerful bow, strong arrows, and throwing knives were solved entirely by this unintentional discovery upon entering the Battle Stone lode. "Those stones!" Qian Jin slapped his own head hard, ignoring the search for Battle Stones and iron ore in the pit for a moment. He scrambled out of the pit using both hands and feet, looking at the forest of stone pillars he had walked past countless times.

He carefully observed the surroundings. According to the introduction in Mineral Prospecting, the formation of iron ore follows certain patterns. In similar geological conditions across different historical eras, the same types of iron deposits can form, while different geological periods and tectonic movements yield different types of iron deposits.

If he hadn't discovered the underground iron ore and hadn't deliberately examined the surroundings, Qian Jin would have found it hard to recognize that this terrain bore a strong resemblance to a type of terrain recorded in Mineral Prospecting: an ancient Proterozoic volcanic terrain! With the passage of time, the former volcanoes, due to earthquakes or other causes, had long since lost their original shapes, but the earth always retained traces of what had happened there. Unless specifically sought out by professionals, it was hard to notice.

The volcanoes were gone, but the traces of their presence still stood tall. Qian Jin looked at the massive, heavy stones before him with a wry smile. Why hadn't he ever observed them carefully before?

While he didn't recognize some of the large stones, upon closer inspection, others were distinctly different from the Oklahomite stones the old man had mentioned. This stone forest was composed of two types of rock. Besides the Oklahomite stones mentioned by the old man, there was a group of stones that looked very much like Oklahomite but were essentially subaerial volcanic rocks!

They contained a large amount of Red Mountain Iron Copper Ore, which was why the stones were exceptionally heavy. According to Mineral Prospecting, there were over three hundred types of iron minerals, with hematite being among the common ones. Red Mountain Iron Copper Ore was just one of the one hundred and seventy common types of iron ore, and since it wasn't buried underground but mixed in with the stone forest on the surface, Qian Jin couldn't be one hundred percent certain it contained large quantities of Red Mountain Iron Copper Ore unless he analyzed the surrounding topography.

Although he didn't yet know the specific reserves of the underground Battle Stone lode, Qian Jin stood on the Battle Stone lode and the iron ore, looking at the stones containing Red Mountain Iron Copper Ore, and threw his arms wide, letting out a long shout toward the sky in excitement. The powerful bow! The strong arrows!

And the elusive throwing knives! These things were no longer mere fantasies. Once crafted and practiced in coordination with the guidance of Divine Archery, there would surely be far greater room for improvement in the future.

"Four Seasons Valley! My lucky place!" Wind and Cloud Battle Qi, Divine Archery, Battle Stone Lode, Magic Core, Demon Subduing Three Battles! Qian Jin suspected that all the good fortune in his life had been spent in the Four Seasons Valley.

The benefits gained from fighting for his life during the great avalanche were far too numerous. He jumped back into the pit, casually dug out a Battle Stone that was almost entirely exposed, and then pushed the giant boulder back into place. He then sprinted back to the valley encampment.

In the open clearing, the entrance to the secret cave was always left slightly ajar. Four days had passed; Qian Jin had not returned to the cave for four days. Shui Lian Ying'er's heart had already sunk into despair.

Although she hadn't exchanged many words with Qian Jin in the Four Seasons Valley, she had always viewed him as her true reliance. Four days without any news had made Shui Lian Ying'er lose her final hope that Qian Jin was still alive. Years of comfortable living had even made her forget that they were residing in the Four Seasons Valley, a place overrun with magical beasts.

"The meat is ready." Bi Luo's voice still carried a trace of timidity. Even after spending more than a month together day and night, the inherent cowardice hadn't disappeared, as if all her courage and spirit had been carried away by the Yellow Springs that appeared at midnight. Shui Lian Ying'er glanced at Bi Luo holding out the roasted meat and shook her head, her tone showing a touch of impatience.

"No appetite. Eat it yourself. If Qian Jin doesn't come back soon, when the food runs out, we'll die anyway—it makes no difference if we eat or not." It’s hard to imagine: in seven hours, fifty-eight monthly tickets.

Awesome! Seeing this monthly ticket count has ignited the Tower Lord's fighting spirit, making it burn brighter and brighter! Give it more!

Give it more! To be honest, when this new book launched its monthly ticket campaign, I was quite lost, and my will to fight wasn't strong—I think everyone noticed that. Today is different; my fighting spirit is ignited!

Come on! Fight alongside me! Let’s make some noise together!

Monthly tickets! F